NAME _________________________ PER _____
ENG 11H: American Literature
Unit 8 Essay Exam (60 pts.)
PART IV. Essay: Respond to one of the following prompts in a well-organized and thoroughly
supported 4-paragraph essay on a separate sheet of notebook paper. Be sure to indicate which
writing task you are responding to on your essay.
NOTE: You MUST use four quotes from The Great Gatsby novel to support your
argument.
WRITING TASK 1
Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Considering
Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question The Great Gatsby
raises about the American Dream and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the
author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole.
WRITING TASK 2
In the last chapter Nick tells the reader that Daisy and Tom Buchanan “smashed up things and
creatures and then retreated back into their money or vast carelessness or whatever it was that
kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” Discuss Tom and
Daisy’s irresponsible behavior, its consequences on the other characters in the novel, and how
their recklessness serves a core message of the novel.
***Use the space below to outline your essay***
NAME _________________________ PER _____
ENG 11H: American Literature
Unit 8 Essay Exam (60 pts.)
PART IV. Essay: Respond to one of the following prompts in a well-organized and thoroughly
supported 4-paragraph essay on a separate sheet of notebook paper. Be sure to indicate which
writing task you are responding to on your essay.
NOTE: You MUST use four quotes from The Great Gatsby novel to support your
argument.
WRITING TASK 3
Nick says in the prologue that “Gatsby turned out all right in the end.” Define his meaning and,
using specific examples from the novel, discuss whether you agree or disagree with Nick’s
statement.
WRITING TASK 4
What role does setting play in The Great Gatsby? Identify a theme in the novel and argue how
Fitzgerald uses geography—both fictitious and factual—to communicate that theme.
***Use the space below to outline your essay***
NAME _________________________ PER _____
ENG 11H: American Literature
Unit 8 Essay Exam (60 pts.)
PART IV. Essay: Respond to one of the following prompts in a well-organized and thoroughly
supported 4-paragraph essay on a separate sheet of notebook paper. Be sure to indicate which
writing task you are responding to on your essay.
NOTE: You MUST use four quotes from The Great Gatsby novel to support your
argument.
WRITING TASK 5
Nick suggests that Gatsby’s downfall is engendered by a “colossal accident.” Argue how Jay
Gatsby is a tragic hero—a protagonist whose demise is brought about by some personality trait,
virtue, or error. Identify Gatsby’s tragic flaw, illustrate how it develops into a “colossal
accident,” and demonstrate how Gatsby’s tragic flaw is also America’s tragic flaw.
WRITING TASK 6
Choose one of the following combinations of characters: Tom Buchanan and George Wilson;
Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson; George Wilson and Jay Gatsby; Myrtle Wilson and Jay
Gatsby. Compare and contrast these two characters and argue how Fitzgerald uses their
respective roles in his narrative to comment on the American Dream.
***Use the space below to outline your essay***
NAME _________________________ PER _____
ENG 11H: American Literature
Unit 8 Essay Exam (60 pts.)
PART IV. Essay: Respond to one of the following prompts in a well-organized and thoroughly
supported 4-paragraph essay on a separate sheet of notebook paper. Be sure to indicate which
writing task you are responding to on your essay.
NOTE: You MUST use four quotes from The Great Gatsby novel to support your
argument.
WRITING TASK 7
In the opening pages of the novel, Nick writes that Gatsby “represented everything for which I
have an unaffected scorn.” And yet, sentences later, Nick reveals that there was “something
gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life....” Additionally, he titles
his reflection on Gatsby The Great Gatsby. Why does Nick admire, maybe even venerate, a type
of man who engenders his contempt? Why, in essence, is Gatsby “great”?
WRITING TASK 8
At the end of Chapter 8, Nick reflects on the meaning of symbols, saying of Gatsby’s nowbroken image of Daisy that Gatsby must have “found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how
raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass.” Here Nick suggests that symbols are not
inherently meaningful, that individuals invest them with arbitrary meaning. Choose two symbols
in the novel—an object, person, or location—that a character imbues with a particular meaning
and argue how those characters’ distinctive interpretations of those symbols motivate their
ambitions or decisions in Fitzgerald’s novel.
***Use the space below to outline your essay***